The present invention is directed to a method of announcing information pertaining to a called party to a calling party during call set-up, and more particularly, to a method of announcing to the calling party, during call set-up, information about the nature of service provided on the call, where the service provided depends on some sort of relationship between the calling and called parties, and where that relationship may not a priori be known to the calling party.
Many telephone calling plans currently exist or have previously existed which provide a subscriber (e.g., calling party) with a discount on one or more telephone calls made by the subscriber if certain conditions are met. For purposes of discussion, the terms subscriber and calling party will be used interchangeably throughout the specification.
For example, calling plans exist in which a subscriber is provided with a reduced per minute calling charge for particular types of telephone calls (e.g., long distance calls) which are made during a particular time frame (e.g., weekends, evenings, etc.). A higher per minute charge is billed for calls made outside of the plan discount period. While these calling plans are fairly easy to understand, these plans place restrictions on the subscriber""s calling activity which may be undesirable to the subscriber. Many times, a monthly fee is also charged to the subscriber as part of enrolling in this type of service plan. The inclusion of the monthly fee results in a higher per minute charge for the discounted calls.
Other calling plans exist in which a telephone provider (e.g., Sprint) provides the subscriber with a flat rate fee for a specific number of calling minutes made from the subscriber""s telephone for particular types of calls (e.g., interstate and intrastate long distance calls). If a subscriber exceeds the number of minutes that he/she has been allotted, the subscriber is charged a per minute fee for any additional minutes/calls. These types of calling plans are directed to high volume callers and are designed in theory to save the subscriber money. These plans are beneficial to the subscriber because they place minimal restrictions on the subscriber. However, these plans are not very beneficial from the standpoint of the telephone service provider because they do not increase brand loyalty.
Some local telephone companies also include calling plans which charge a flat rate fee for unlimited calls made to a particular local exchange. A local exchange call is an intrastate call to a called party located in an area which is a local toll charge to the calling party. A typical 10-digit telephone number has the format of (AAA)BBB-CCCC. In order for a call to be subject to the discount, it must have a predefined local exchange (i.e., the (AAA)BBB is predefined so, for example, all calls to a number starting with (908)555 would be subject to the flat rate fee). These discount plans are very narrowly defined and occur in an area where the local telephone company is typically a monopoly (i.e., there are not usually competing local telephone companies providing similar service). As such, subscriber loyalty is not an issue.
In service areas where competition is a concern, service plans have been contemplated in which discounts may be applied to calls made to called parties which subscribe to the same telephone service provider as the calling party (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,184 referred to as Doherty). In Doherty, a Primary Interexchange Carrier (PIC) indicator is inserted into an Exchange Message Interface (EMI) record to indicate whether the called party has the same PIC as the calling party. This post processing of the call record for billing purposes allows a discount to be applied to the calling party""s calls for those calls in which both the calling party and called party are PIC""d to the same carrier. Because the PIC determination process is completed after the call has been made, there is no way for the calling party to be informed at the time of the call if the discount will be applied to the particular call. The calling party will only know a priori that a discount is applicable if the calling party knows for some reason that the called party is PIC""d to the same carrier.
There is a need for a calling plan for which it is easy for a subscriber to understand when the plan is applicable and which is beneficial to the telephone service provider in that the plan promotes brand loyalty.
The present invention is directed to a method of informing a calling party during call set-up about information pertaining to the called party which is indicative of the call treatment that will be applied to the call. Such call treatment may include a discount to be applied to the call, different call routing treatment, or other type of service promotional treatment. As such, the calling party does not need to know prior to making the telephone call any information pertaining to the called party other than the called party""s telephone number. By knowing the applicability of the call treatment prior to the completion of the call, the calling party can then take advantage of the call treatment status. Such action may take the form of using additional call minutes for the particular call. In addition, if the calling party is aware that the call treatment is not applicable to a particular call, the calling party can inform the called party of the availability of such call treatment which may result in the called party switching service to the particular telephone service provider.
In the case of a discount being applied to the call, the discount may take the form of a reduced per minute charge, an indication that the call will be subject to a monthly flat fee or other discount fee structure. Call routing treatment may include using higher quality routing techniques for calls subject to the call treatment (e.g., using routes with higher fidelity such as circuit switched routing as opposed to Internet Protocol (IP) routing, providing more alternative routes for routing the call or using routes with less delay, etc.) or routing the call over less congested routes. Other special call treatment which might be available to the calling party is a feature such as automatic call back on Busy if the called party line is busy. Such a feature may be available free of charge or at a reduced rate based on information pertaining to the called party. In addition, the present invention could be used in conjunction with other existing premium call features. For example, if a calling party uses three-way calling to add a second called party to a call in progress with a first called party, the present invention would provide an announcement to the calling party if special call treatment were applicable based on information pertaining to the second called party. The present invention provides the added benefit of providing the subscriber with a simple to use calling plan and the telephone service provider with a service plan that promotes brand loyalty. The present invention also provides the calling party with the benefit of knowing in real time when a call is subject to special call treatment by providing the calling party with information pertaining to the called party prior to the final placement of the call.